I hope you are all well and thriving …and not getting too buried in the hustle bustle of the holiday season. It is good to pause and appreciate the quiet time of the year. We have truly entered into winter. Its a peaceful day today with snow falling gently making everything fresh and white. The muted blue and violet colors of this overcast winter day are beautiful.

It feels like it was just a few weeks ago when summer insisted on lingering until Thanksgiving. I’m not complaining I was happy with that extra long summer ! Its rare that we have empty beaches, parking lots and warm weather. I took advantage of it !

I was buried in work till the end of my season, delivering paintings to galleries and hanging a holiday show. The summer season which is my busiest time of year stretched with out a pause into December this year. So when all deliveries were made it was time to celebrate and shift gears. I took a week off, then eased back into work with a bit of attention to planning my schedule for 2018.

Christmas is rounding the corner and almost upon us with the New Year right behind it! Here are some highlights 2018 !

FRESH NEWS !

DECEMBER

DECEMBER 5th ~ JAN 7th
HOLIDAY & WINTER SHOWWylers,150 Maine Street, Brunswick, ME
My holiday and winter show will be up until Jan 7th. Pieces from my haiku series, food series and harbor series are on display.

NEW ONLINE eCOURSE COMING SOON!
Yes, we are readying the pre-launch!
I will be sending out special emails only to folks who sign up to the ECOURSE list for the new online landscape & plein air painting course. Sign up here for ECOURSE UPDATES!

This is the last painting in my series ‘ The Sea”. I noticed that when I paint a series I reach a point when the images start to move in another direction. Its an interesting process that is heavily influenced by my plein air painting. I paint my haiku paintings on location as well as in the studio. I have a tendency to paint in oil en plein air and in acrylic in the studio. I like the fast drying time of acrylic in the studio and the slow drying time of oils on location. My ocean paintings in 2018 will be going in a new direction. Stay posted!

I often go out to paint in storms on the coast. I love painting during a Nor’easter. I’ve found a perfect location on the Nubble in York, Maine where I can park my car to block the wind from hitting my easel. I have a wonderful easel called the Gloucester that is sturdy and strong. I use that easel in severe wind conditions. If the wind is so strong I have trouble opening my car door then I will paint from inside the car with the back hatch open. When the wind is that extreme the crashing waves are huge.

I’ve had this connection to the sea since I was a small child. I also really like wild weather. When a stormy wind blows in off the ocean you will find me walking along the edge. There is nothing like a crisp, clean wind to blow the cobwebs out of your brain. I always return home refreshed and invigorated. There nothing quite like a big bowl of soup or a hot cup of tea after a walk along the ocean during a winter storm. Heavenly.

I’m watching big surf from another storm. When there are lots of clouds over head it makes the water show its true color. Here in the northern Atlantic on the southern coast of Maine it turns many shades of green. There is no bright blue ocean on a cloudy day.

I’m watching a storm pulling out to sea. I watch many storms race out to sea. I’ve watched years of storms blow out to sea. The weather often moves in from the west and travels out over the ocean. This is one of my memories of a big storm.

I live on the coast of Maine. I spend hours looking at the sea. After years of watching the sea these images appeared in my mind. So I decided to paint them. I never know what I will paint. I don’t plan on painting them. It usually happens on a day when I’m busy doing something else and I take a break just to relax and paint a few things that are on my mind. The sea is on my mind. I love this vast huge place and the feeling it gives you when you are standing on the edge of it.

The first in my new gold marsh series. The gold is very subtle it peeks through and glows in bits here and there. It isn’t easy to see the gold reflections in a photograph. Diptych Marsh Clouds 1, 2.5x 6 oil on gold. $175. Limited Edition Prints $35 Available. Photo: Mary Byrom

COLD DAYS & COZY SPOTS
Winter arrived sometime in the past few weeks. Cold winter temperatures are here along with the pure clean arctic air that swoops down every now and then from the North Pole. I love the smell of this air. It’s so clean and fresh. The temperatures have dropped below zero and my office in this big old house with its drafty windows feels chilly. Who cares how cold it is? My new studio is so toasty that it is a delight to spend any time in there! This week I’m doing inventory on paintings that are newly finished, waiting to be finished and on my to-do list. I’m finishing several paintings that have been waiting for my attention since they were started on location during the summer. I’m looking at my plein air studies for a new series that I’m starting and I just completed another haiku landscape series.

GO FOR THE GOLD
The new Marsh series is a bit different for those of you familiar with my recent work. They are painted on gold. A number of years ago when I was primarily an abstract studio artist I painted on gold. I was organizing my studio this fall and saw a few canvases with gold on them. I love gold and the warmth it reflects. It glows in such a beautiful way. For these uncertain, tumultuous times I thought it was perfect to dish a big dose of warmth out into the world. So I picked up the phone, called my supplier and had some new gold leaf sent to me. My new haiku Marsh series is painted on gold. In the genre of religious paintings, gold symbolizes eternity. I’m getting flashes of 14th and 15th century religious paintings. If I can fit it in, I’m thinking a trip to Florence and Rome is in order to view some of those wonderful paintings. It might be just the perfect thing to see the timeless masterpieces that reside there.

MORE NEW PRINTS RELEASED THIS WEEK …(7 new ones) on my site on Fine Art America

“Ready to Go” is now available in a variety of sizes as a high quality giclee.

If you wish to purchase prints of my paintings, they are being posted on my page at Fine Art America. You can follow my page on Fine Art America for notification of the release of new paintings into print editions.
A select collection is available now and more will be posted soon on a regular basis. I will be releasing small studies and reproductions of some of my larger paintings.

NEW STUDIO CLASS STARTS JAN 10TH.
I HAVE ONE OPENING AVAILABLE NOW

YOU CAN REGISTER NOW FOR THE STUDIO SESSION OF THE WINTER CLASS – STARTING JANUARY 10TH

If you are interested in joining the class that begins January 10, 2017 and have questions, please contact me here.

UPCOMING EVENTS

LIVE DEMO AND Pop Up – WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR SALE & CELEBRATION – HAIKU EXHIBIT ~

I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO MY DEMO & POP UP IN JANUARY!
I will be hosting a painting demo, artists talk and pop up sale in the quiet, beautiful time of the year – January ! (I’m watching the long range weather reports – which may or may not help on choosing the date…we shall see!)
I will have small paintings from my haiku series and selected plein air landscapes available for purchase at unbelievable price points! If you are looking for paintings of the seacoast region – you will find them here.
This will be a fun & wild pop up happening!
If you love tiny paintings, adventure, unusual locations and hot chocolate this event is for you.
If you would like to receive the date, location and time of this festive event please click here!
This event is by invitation only. Get your invite here !